Telkom will appeal the R449 million penalty imposed on it by the Competition Tribunal for abusing its monopoly between 1999 and 2004.
The operator announced this afternoon that it has filed a notice of appeal against the tribunal's ruling, which stemmed from a case between Telkom and the South African value-added network services. The tribunal found Telkom had refused to supply essential facilities - in turn limiting competition in the sector.
Telkom now has 40 business days to file its record of appeal, before the matter goes before the Competition Appeal Court.
The tribunal's decision was made public earlier this month, eight years after the Competition Commission referred the matter to it. The delay was due to several factors, including a legal battle over jurisdiction that was sorted out by a Supreme Court ruling in November 2009.
The penalty - while substantially less than the R1 billion the Competition Commission sought for the dominating operator - is 65 times higher than the fine Telkom submitted would be appropriate should the tribunal find against it.
According to the tribunal's ruling, Telkom has six months to pay half of the penalty, with the balance payable within 12 months of that.
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